1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fuel cell system having at least one fuel cell, the fuel cell having an anode, a cathode, and a membrane element, and two electrode chambers are disposed in the fuel cell, and the electrode chambers are an anode chamber and a cathode chamber, and an educt flows into the anode chamber and into the cathode chamber by means of a respective incoming stream.
2. Description of the Prior Art
From German Patent Disclosure DE 103 46 594 A1, a polymer-electrolyte-membrane (PEM) fuel cell is known. PEM fuel cells typically include a membrane-electrode array (MEA), which is constructed of two catalyst layers, which function as an anode and a cathode, and a polymer membrane disposed between them. The performance of an MEA depends strongly on the operating conditions, among others for instance the adequate delivery of educts to all locations in the array, the moisture, and the temperature. To that end, in the aforementioned document, at least one of the electrode chambers has one additional wall, so that a new additional chamber is created. Into this chamber, water is introduced, but also optionally the educts are introduced into the electrode chamber. Because the wall is designed as impermeable, with isolated permeable regions, a uniform distribution of the moisture and of the educts is supposed to be attained.
However, in the aforementioned document, it is necessary to introduce one further wall, and possibly even more such walls, into each fuel cell. This increases the weight and the cost. Furthermore, the problem of moisture is primarily a problem of the entry region of the electrode chambers.
Moreover, the problem just mentioned above, that the incoming streams should also be tempered, is neither described in the aforementioned document, nor does it show any solution to the problem. The incoming streams are tempered externally in the prior art. However, as an additional component, an external tempering device entails added expense and greater weight. It is also possible in the prior art to moisten the incoming streams externally. With external moisteners, however, the problem arises that because of the low temperatures, water condenses in the tubes of the external moistener. That water is lost for moistening purposes and leads to problems with droplet formation and icing. An external moistener is associated with added expense and greater weight as well.